SACRAMENTO – The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) extended its thanks to key California Congressional leaders for passing the Farm Bill Conference Report in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday.  

Through the Farm Bill, federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding will be extended for FY 2014, providing resources for rural California counties to provide critical government services.

“Federal PILT funding is critical to California’s rural counties, and RCRC is grateful to key Congressional leadership for voting to secure this one-year extension,” said Nate Beason, RCRC chair and Nevada County supervisor. “Now that we’ve secured the reauthorization for FY 2014, it’s time to work with Congress to enact a multi-year funding reauthorization, as was the process in years past.”

As part of the federal PILT program, California counties are due more than $41 million in annual funding to provide critical local government services, such as law enforcement, search and rescue, health care, environmental compliance, firefighting, and parks and recreation.

The payments would total $133,836 annually for Lake County.

The Farm Bill is expected to be heard in the U.S. Senate in the coming days, and if passed, funding will flow to California counties before October 2014.